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The Crew of Puma 17

Shot down at Mapai, Mozambique 6 September 1979

With the complete withdrawal of Frelimo and ZANLA troops from the Mapai area, the local headmen decided to bury the bodies of the fallen men where they lay, and placed them in two large graves, next to each other.

These graves remained unmarked and unkept for thirty years, their whereabouts unknown to all but the local population, who treated the crash area with reverence and respect, and no-one ventured anywhere near the grave site.
On Saturda
y 12 April 2009, a small search party led by former RLI Lieutenant Rick van Malsen discovered the crash site of Puma 164, and the graves of the seventeen brave men who died there. These men were finally laid to rest by their comrades-inarms, with a short service, and the placing of a memorial cross on the larger of the two graves.

The Roll of Honour of the fallen men was read out, whilst the haunting sounds of The Last Post rang out over the silent African bush.

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